Some examples of prior art snap hooks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,546,208 to Cunningham; U.S. Pat. No. 2,490,931 to Thompson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,458 to Crook, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,585 to Sharp et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,441 to Barlow. In general, these devices serve their intended purpose, but the possibility of mishap remains if they are used contrary to recommended operating procedures. In particular, typical safety hooks are supposed to have their respective closed loop ends secured to a line, and their respective hook ends secured to another object. When used in this manner, tension in the line sets the solid portion of the hook firmly against the support structure, and the gate portion of the hook is not required to carry the load on the line.
Sometimes, however, users of the hooks are inclined to wrap the line about the support structure and then connect the hook to an intermediate portion of the line. This deviation from recommended operating procedure may cause the line to bear against the gate portion of the hook and/or may cause the gate portion of the hook to bear against the support structure. Under such circumstances, a fall arrest event may impart excessive force on the gate portion result in failure of the hook. In view of this possibility, an object of the present invention is to provide a double locking snap hook having a load bearing gate which is capable of withstanding forces associated with the arrest of a person's fall.